


A New Path

by witchee_writer



Series: a different path to happiness [2]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Alternate Universe - Everyone Lives/Nobody Dies, Billy Hargrove Just Wants A Nap, Drugged Steve Harrington, Gen, Hopeful Ending, Pre-Relationship, alternate season 3
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-16
Updated: 2021-01-16
Packaged: 2021-03-17 19:34:51
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,110
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28730541
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/witchee_writer/pseuds/witchee_writer
Summary: Hawkins was supposed to be a little backwater town where nothing interesting ever happened. It was still a backwater town, but now there were just monsters and Russians and kids with superpowers too. Billy hadn't signed up for any of this, but it was too late to back out now.
Relationships: Billy Hargrove & Steve Harrington
Series: a different path to happiness [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2106177
Comments: 1
Kudos: 26





	A New Path

Look, Billy knew some weird shit had gone on in this town. He'd been possessed by something called the Mind Flayer, for fuck's sake. He saw shit that made no logical sense, but even he hadn't been prepared for the _entire_ truth. 

It was a lot. 

Monsters, a gate to another world, science experiments, kids with superpowers, it was all just a lot, okay? No one would have blamed Billy (well, Max might have), if he had wanted out. But he knew he couldn't just run from this. Not after everything he had done, everything he had seen. Besides, even his conscience might have made itself known if he had just left those kids to fend for themselves. 

Wheeler and Byers (the ones that were actually his age) were undeniably surprised to see him when they ran into them, but they adapted quickly. Billy supposed you learned to do that when you had monsters breathing down your neck. The important thing was finding the Flayer, finding the warehouse. Billy knew what it looked like, what was inside, he could tell them the names of those who knew had been Flayed, but he couldn't tell them where the warehouse was. It was dark, that was all he knew. It was a dark spot in his memories as if the Flayer had covered it's tracks just in case. It had learned from the first time, from when it had possessed Will. A part of Billy was glad. He wanted that thing dead, but he didn't want to go anywhere near that warehouse. Not again, not ever. 

If they waited long enough, the Mind Flayer would find them anyway. 

Of everyone in this town, it was Nancy Wheeler and Jonathan Byers that surprised him the most. He had seen them around in school, neither impressed him enough to warrant his attention. He was wrong, he was wrong about a lot of things but they were one of them. Billy never thought that they could have the kind of fight that they did. Wheeler was the real standout, shooting and reloading the gun without even a shake in her hands. He would be impressed if they weren't all trying not to die. And El- well, she was something else entirely. The Flayer was right to fear her. She was a kid, the same age as his sister and she threw those monsters around like they weighed nothing, she split the Flayer's head in two. Yes, it took a toll but she did it. Without her, they would probably be dead three times over. 

And he wasn't fucking joking when he said that the town's secrets were a lot. Not even their little group had known about Russians until Dustin had gotten in touch over radio and they had all met up at the mall. Billy took some satisfaction at the sheer shock on the kid's face at the sight of him. 

"What the fuck is he doing here?" yelled Dustin, pointing an accusing finger at him. "He's an asshole!" 

Billy sneered, Max glared, slapping his finger away. "Hey! He's here because he wants to fight," she snapped. 

"But-" 

Max narrowed her eyes, and Dustin shook his head, apparently deeming it unimportant. It was, in the scheme of things. Not only were they running from monsters, but the Russians that operated secretly under the Mall too. Harrington looked like shit, he and the girl he worked with (Billy didn't know her name, didn't particularly care), giggled to themselves. They hadn't said a word since they had arrived and Dustin had started to explain everything. Billy only caught bits and pieces, Russians, secret base, the gate, captured, interrogated. Well, that explained why Harrington's face looked the way that it did. 

"Hey- hey Billy-" He was there, then. Harrington pushing his way through his friends, a dopey look on his stupid face as he stumbled and Billy had no choice but to catch him. Well, he could have let him fall, but he was trying to be slightly less of an asshole. If it was Byers, he probably would have let him fall. But it wasn't Byers, it was Harrington and he'd be lying if he said he hadn't fascinated him from the moment he'd stepped in this dump of a town. Most popular guy in school, _King Steve_ , and then what? Nothing. He changed, he didn't care, none of that popularity shit mattered anymore, not even Billy antagonizing him had riled him up. He knew why now, of course. Barbara Holland being pulled into the Upside Down in his fucking pool, Harrington being dragged into all this crap just because Wheeler and Byers couldn't let it go, fighting monsters, almost dying. What was high school drama next to that? Harrington looked up at him, his hair flopping over his face. He giggled again, and Billy couldn't help but look around, a little alarmed. "Hey Billy-" continued Harrington, "Those Russians pack more of a punch then you do, bet you could have taken them though." He swayed as Billy tried to right him, especially when he pointed a finger at the girl. "Robin, this is the guy that beat me up last year!" 

The pair of them dissolved into fits of laughter, and Dustin groaned, his head falling into his hands. "They were drugged, I don't know what they gave them, Steve's running a pretty good fever though," he said, frowning. "Not sure if it's gonna kill them or not yet." 

"What?" yelled Nancy, her eyes wide. 

Billy placed a hand to the back of Harrington's forehead and frowned, he _was_ burning up. "Unless you know any Russian drug antidotes, not much we can do about it," he said. 

"Your care is overwhelming," said Dustin, sarcastically. 

Billy gave him the finger, even as he kept one hand on Harrington's arm. The guy kept spinning, looking up as if the roof was the most fascinating thing in the world. It was giving him a headache. Look, he knew there might have been some babysitting involved in all this, but he didn't expect it to be of Harrington and his ice cream co-worker for fuck's sake. What? Just cause Billy hadn't slept in days and was barely keeping upright they thought they needed to bench him. Not that he would have been able to do much, but that wasn't the fucking point. The Flayer came, they used their fireworks, Billy tried to stop Harrington from blowing them all up with said fireworks and then El ended it all. She was pretty messed up at the end of it all, but she was alive, and the Flayer was gone. That was what mattered. 

Harrington and Robin (that was her name, apparently) seemed to have come down from their high, they were quiet, the three of them sitting there. Official looking people bustled around them, scientists, police, soldiers, Billy hardly paid them any attention. With the Flayer gone, did that mean all of this was over? Did that mean Billy could finally get that sleep he wanted? Of course, if he went home he'd probably get beaten for his trouble but-

"Hey kid." Billy looked up to see Chief Hopper hovering over him. He resisted the urge to flinch, the faces of the people he had hurt flashing across his eyes. It wasn't him, they kept saying it wasn't him but it sure as hell had felt like it. He didn't know where the kids were, everything had gone a little blurry after the Flayer had been destroyed and the gate had been closed for good. Fuck, he was just so tired. Hopper sighed, "You guys need lifts home?" 

Billy raised an eyebrow in surprise, "What about the rest of them?" 

Hopper shrugged, "Parents are coming to pick them up for the most part, this is all going to be swept under the rug. There will be some forms to sign but other then that, this will all just go away." 

"Yeah? Even for a killer?" said Billy, the bitterness seeping into his voice. Harrington looked at him with a frown, but Billy ignored him. 

"You weren't the one doing the killing kid, that was the Mind Flayer," said Hopper. "And you aren't the only one it's made do terrible things. Will was the same, he lead a group of innocent men into a trap, he allowed the demodogs into the lab with all of us in it. You're not alone in this, Billy-" Billy rolled his eyes, and with a growl, Hopper grabbed him by the shirt and pulled him upwards. He tried not to flinch, to shrink back. He didn't do a very good job of it given the look that passed over the Chief's face. He let him go, and Billy was vaguely away of Harrington hovering at his side. The Chief took a breath, "If you ever need to talk, my door is open. But for now, we go home, we move on. So, you kids need a lift?" 

"My car is here," said Harrington. 

Hopper shot him a dark look, "And you've been drugged, I'm not letting you drive." 

"Fair call." 

"I'm good," said Robin, "I don't need the Chief of Police taking me home, I'll call my mom and she'll pick me up." 

Hopper nodded, "And you Hargrove?" 

"What's Max doing?" 

"She called her mom, said she was staying with El at mine." Which should be more then enough to get her off the hook. Billy wasn't sure it would be enough for him though. He just wanted to sleep, he didn't want to have to deal with this shit but somehow, his dad would make it his fault. Everything was, wasn't it? 

"Take us back to mine," said Harrington, steadily. Billy glanced at him, suspicious. He bet they always talked about him, him and Wheeler and Byers, why he was so angry, what could possibly have made him that way. A sneer made it's way onto his face, but Harrington met his gaze before he could say anything, the barest hint of pleading in his gaze before he smothered it down and his gaze was cool. "It's a big house, Hargrove, my parents are never home and I've been drugged, someone should keep an eye on me." 

"And what makes you think I care what fucking happens to you when you're out of it?" snapped Billy. 

Harrington shrugged, "Do you have anything better to do?" 

"Fuck you." 

"You wish." 

"Am I taking you idiots home or not?" ground out Hopper, his eye practically twitching. 

Billy rolled his eyes, "Fine, whatever, let's go to the rich kid's house." 

Harrington smirked and Billy elected to ignore it. How could he have known at the time what that would start? That Harrington would never say a fucking word about his house and his dad or the bruises he sometimes sported but he always offered him a place to crash, a place to hang out, to drink and smoke and not give a fuck. How Billy went from seeing him every now and again whenever he dropped or picked up Max, to almost every day. Whether it was at Scoops, at the pool, at Harrington's house, at the Byers' house which he used to think was the creepiest in the world but was in fact, the warmest. How was he supposed to know that an ill-fated attempt to seduce Karen Wheeler would change fucking everything. 

His dad was still an asshole. Fuck, Billy was still an asshole, but a likable one now, apparently (Dustin's words, not his own). He went from knowing none of those kid's names to knowing all of them, and scaring the piss out of the occasional bullies he happened to stumble across (or breaking up fights when Max attempted to beat the shit out of them). It wasn't hard, he knew kids like that, he knew that they were just afraid of something or other. He went from sneering at Nancy and Jonathan, to receiving soft smiles and sharing smokes on the porch instead. 

If someone would have told Billy that this was where he would end up, that these were the people he would end up hanging around, he would have straight up laughed in their face (and then probably hit them). 

He still had nightmares, he still saw the faces of the people the Flayer had taken, he still felt himself burning sometimes, but with everything he had gained, all of that, it was worth it. He had a sister, he had friends ( _real_ friends), he had people who cared and fuck, it had been a long time since he'd had that. 

**Author's Note:**

> Sorry if there were any mistakes, I always say I'm gonna edit and then I just skim so I can post it faster. That's my bad. Hope you enjoyed anyway, thanks for reading!


End file.
